University had gone all the way to Jamestown, N.Y., last weekend for the National Invitational Scholastic Showcase and didn’t emerge with as much as it would prefer, returning 1-2 and not making it to Day 3. Dec. 14 in Greater Ohio Hockey League action against Olentangy Liberty back on home ice at the Cleveland Heights Pavilion, the Preppers had gone all the way to overtime against the formidable Patriots after absorbing the body blow that was relinquishing a two-goal lead. All the way, with nothing to show for it? Not if these Preppers had anything to say about it. Gavin Jones’ penalty shot in OT propelled US to a 3-2 victory over Liberty. US senior forward Gavin Jones discusses a 3-2 OT win over Olentangy Liberty, including his winning penalty shot in the extra session pic.twitter.com/jMoWMh1x4v — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 15, 2024 Between timing and circumstance, it was a ‘W’ the Preppers (6-6) were pleased to keep in the confines of Hunting Valley. “Any time you’re playing a team in the GOHL, it’s going to be a tough night,” US coach Andy Gerow said. “They’ve got a hell of a group over there. (Liberty standouts Jake Struck and Andrew Leonard) have been in our nightmares since two years ago in the state final. Those guys are a week from a (Division I) state championship in football, coming out here and they didn’t look too rusty at all. “So for us to only give up two, credit to our forwards helping the D-zone and our ‘D’ doing a good job. And then Hayden Halverson has been a monster in net all year. What he’s been doing is incredible.” Tied at 2-2 amid 3-on-3 hockey in the extra session, officials awarded a penalty shot after deeming a Liberty player had clasped the puck with his hands with his goalie out of the crease during a scramble in front. Enter Jones. The skilled senior forward was kicking himself after being unable to cash in on a sitter in the third but skated the redemption trail. He walked in the penalty shot and slotted a snapper stickside 112 seconds into OT. He and his euphoric teammates made a bee-line for the student section to mark the end to a gritty win. Gavin Jones penalty shot wins it at 1:52FinalUS 3Liberty 2 pic.twitter.com/wiVWRsupm0 — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 15, 2024 “It’s a big win,” US senior captain Ethan Roberts said. “Especially since we’ve had our struggles in the GOHL so far this year. We’ve been really struggling to put a lot of goals on the board and get momentum going. We said, ‘We need to play like a desperate hockey team.’ And I think we showed that a lot today, guys putting the team first before themselves, going all-out as much as they can.” Roberts had given US a 2-0 lead at 5:14 of the second with a wrister between the circles, his ninth goal of the winter. That came on the heels of a fine opening period — GOHL games have 17-minute periods — punctuated by sophomore Michael Hayek’s tally at 2:12. Carter Kroh did well in traffic to tap a feed toward a crashing Hayek, and he put away a wrister at the left bar, a welcome third-line contribution. US 1-0Michael Hayek at 2:12 pic.twitter.com/Q68k95Uro4 — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 14, 2024 After showing how prolific it was the night before in a 5-4 loss to mighty St. Ignatius, though, the Preppers were cognizant they had not heard the last of Liberty (3-6). Then the Patriots proved it. At 7:15 of the second, Liberty cut its deficit in half. Struck fed across the zone for Leonard, who made no mistake with a water-bottle shelfie to make it a 2-1 game. Leonard, who was unlucky with a bar skimmer on a short-handed chance at 8:50, returned the favor to Struck to level the proceedings, 2-2. At 13:32, Leonard put an initial look on net, and Struck buried the rebound. US goaltender Hayden Halverson was sturdy with an 11-save third, including denials of Michael Greco at 6:09 and Cooper Kauf on a shorty look at 9:26, to force OT. Halverson finished with 28 saves on the evening. That OT is where Jones went from kicking himself to kicking the excitement into high gear for the hosts. Going all the way down a winding road paid dividends this time. “I think a lot of times, teams can easily quit — when you get a good lead, you get a little bit comfortable,” Roberts said. “And then, you see a team kind of fire back. It’s easy to kind of just be like, ‘Wow, they have all the momentum.’ It’s like the ice is tilted, and you’re skating uphill a little bit. But it starts with the upperclassmen. When you see upperclassmen go out there and play desperately, like I said earlier, and play with a lot of energy and pick each other up. “If a kid makes a mistake, you’re right there to help him out. The other upperclassmen are there to do it, too. And that translates a lot to the rest of the team.” Coming soon For more from this game, as Roberts and Gerow discuss US’ new-look in the D-zone, check back in the coming days on News-Herald.com and in our print edition.